


Changing for the Better

by orphan_account



Category: Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair, Coming Out, Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, Mild Hurt/Comfort, platonic komahinanami, slight homophobia, supportive friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-22 00:45:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11369043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: They were studying in Hajime’s dorm when Chiaki had popped the question.“Hey, Hajime, what do you think of gay people?”





	Changing for the Better

**Author's Note:**

> Self-indulgently written for Germany legalizing same-sex marriage. Love you guys <3

They were studying in Hajime’s dorm when Chiaki had popped the question.

“Hey, Hajime, what do you think of gay people?”

Hajime sputtered on the drink of water he had been gulping down at the time. “W-What? Where’s that coming from?”

Chiaki and Nagito stared at him expectantly. They had abandoned their books and dropped their pencils.

Hajime looked away and retreated to his thoughts.

Well… his parents always told him to get married to a nice girl, right? He could vaguely remember his mother wrinkling her nose in disgust whenever she even saw the word “lesbian” and his father insulting things by calling them “gay” in a terrible attempt to be “hip.” It’s not like he agreed with them, but it was the only view he really knew.

“I think…” Hajime began, “I think it’s kind of weird, I guess. I mean, my parents weren’t the friendliest people around so it might just be them talking, but it’s not really natural, right? You can’t really make children or anything, so what’s the point?”

“Oh.”

Both Chiaki and Nagito’s eyes dimmed just a little. They exchanged a somber look before picking up their pens and focusing back on the books laid down in front of them.

Hajime flinched at the sudden cold treatment. “H-Hey, did I do something wrong?”

Nagito plastered on a smile and yawned. “Nothing, Hajime. I’m a bit tired, so I’ll be going home. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He packed up his materials and walked out the door.

A moment later, Chiaki joined him.

Hajime sat up and stared blankly at the textbook. Did he say something?

*

A few days later, Hajime and Chiaki were left with one empty seat at their usual lunch table.

Hajime stared at Ibuki’s table, where she and the missing person, Nagito, ate with each other, chatting and occasionally sharing a laugh. Nagito pulled out several sheets of paper and handed them off to Ibuki. Her eyes narrowed as they scanned the pages in front of her. She took out a red pen and started scribbling.

Chiaki looked up from her GameGirl. “What are you looking at?”

“Them.”

Chiaki followed his gaze and shrugged. “Is it because Nagito’s not here? So what?”

“He always tells us if he won’t be eating with us.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it.  He mentioned something about being more interested in music… I think.” Chiaki offered him a smile. “He would tell us if something was wrong.”

Hajime sighed and pried his eyes away from the other table before shoving a pile of rice in his mouth.

It sure didn’t help his suspicions when Chiaki and Nagito’s roles were reversed the next day.

Again, Hajime’s eyes burned into Ibuki’s table.

Chiaki and Ibuki chattered for a bit before Ibuki pulled out the same papers Nagito had given her and handed them to the other girl. Chiaki’s eyes flittered across the red marks. She pushed it back and nodded approvingly.

Were… Were they planning something?

Hajime ripped his eyes away from the table. “Say, Nagito, what did you give to Ibuki the other day?”

Nagito looked up from the novel he was reading and tilted his head. “You saw that? I gave her some of the notes I took on transcribing notes. Why?”

“I think Ibuki just gave Chiaki your notes.”

“That’s probably because Chiaki was interested in transcribing some songs from video games.” Nagito laughed. “Typical of her, right?”

Hajime shrugged and returned to his lunch, his suspicions burrowing into his gut.

*

Chiaki locked the door behind her after stepping inside the music room.

“Ah, you’re early, Chiaki,” Nagito said, giving her a smile and wave.

Chiaki leaned in with narrowed eyes. “You said he was suspicious?”

Nagito’s smile faded. “Yes, I believe so. He was just staring at you and Ibuki the entire lunch period and saw that we exchanged papers. I told him that you were working on transcribing something for a video game, but I’m not sure he believed that.”

“I noticed that, too.” Chiaki looked up with a thoughtful finger reaching up to her chin. “I told him you were interested in music. I don’t think he believed that either.”

“What are we going to do if he finds out by himself?” Nagito asked, the top half of his face developed into a pale blue. “He’s smart, and I have no doubt he’ll find out about it soon.”

Chiaki paused. “I think… I think we should bring Ibuki over to our table.”

Nagito’s eyes took on a twinkle. “A brilliant plan! As expected from Chiaki.” He pulled out his phone and tapped on group chat.

Chiaki did the same.

_NK: Ibuki, do you mind spending one more lunch period with us at our own table? I understand if you don’t want to be in my horrible presence any further, but Hajime’s getting suspicious._

_IM: Wah! hE KNOWS???!!!_

_CN: No, not yet. We’re worried he will._

_IM: Oooh. (_ _；￣Д￣). Ibuki was rly worried there for a sec._

_CN: So will you?_

_IM: Of course!!! Anything for Ibuki’s community!”_

Nagito and Chiaki looked up from their phones and met each other’s gaze, knowing they would need to do more than a quick scan of the Wikipedia page on music to keep up with her tomorrow.

*

Hajime let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Chiaki and Nagito sit down at their lunch table together. His relief quickly faded upon seeing a fourth member slam her lunch bag down on the table as well. He fought back a sigh. “Hello, Ibuki.”

“Hi, Hajime!” Ibuki said. She leaned in and held the side of her hand above her eyes as if she were looking at the sun. “Hmmm… Hajime doesn’t look too happy. Are you okay?”

Guilt and regret poured into Hajime’s stomach. He shouldn’t have been so curt with her. She _was_ his classmate, after all.

“No worries, Ibuki. Hajime’s always this grumpy.” Nagito’s voice cut Hajime off from any further regrets.

Hajime rolled his eyes and flicked a stray eraser bit at his head.

The eraser bit disappeared into his hair.

Nagito frowned and ran his hands through his hair in a fruitless effort to locate the eraser. After a few seconds, he gave up and returned his hands to the green binder in front of him. “Ibuki, could you explain the difference between transcriptions and arrangements to me again? I forgot…”

“Of course!” Ibuki rambled off about the differences.

Nagito and Chiaki glanced at each other before leaning their ear into Ibuki’s rant, pretending to be interested in the speech.

“Wait, Ibuki, I have a question,” Chiaki said, silencing her. “Do you think transcribing by hand is better than transcribing by software or…”

Hajime watched on as his classmates talked amongst each other about a subject he barely knew about. While he was glad his friends were making connections, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit... lonely? Jealous? It felt as if they were intentionally trying to push him out of the friend group.

…Were they?

Hajime’s blood ran cold. He brushed the thoughts off.

No, Chiaki and Nagito wouldn’t do that.

…Would they?

*

Hajime was able to breathe again when he saw Chiaki and Nagito standing in front of the school gates waiting for him.

Chiaki looked down at her watch and frowned. “You’re ten minutes late, I think. Why?”

Hajime gulped. He couldn’t just tell them that he was running a friendship test he saw online, so he settled for the next best answer: a shrug.

Nice, Hajime.

Nagito and Chiaki gave him a long look before excusing it and walking down the street with him.

The trio walked home as normal until they reached Nagito’s house.

Nagito waved goodbye and smiled. “Well, here’s my house. I’ll see you later, Hajime.”

“Right. Bye, Hajime,” Chiaki said, rubbing her eyes.

Both he and Chiaki walked into his house.

Hajime stared after them with awe written all over his face. He stayed for a moment before shaking his head and trudging back home.

They were definitely kicking him out of the friendship now.

Hajime pushed the bitterness away long enough to greet his parents and scream silently into his pillow.

*

Nagito and Chiaki looked down at their feet as they leaned against the wall of the music room. Ibuki had kicked them out in order to “work her instrument magic,” as she so eloquently put it.

Chiaki shuffled her feet and turned to Nagito. “Hey… Do you think he’ll hate us after we do this?”

Nagito laughed. “Of course not! We’re best friends, after all…” His smile faded. “Friends…”

The two stared blankly at each other with the same thought on their mind:

_Holy shit, we could actually lose our best friend._

“And… And if he does end up hating us, we’ll always stick by each other’s side, right?” Chiaki said, holding a hand to her heart.

Nagito seemed taken aback, almost offended. “Of course! Why would we not? Unless you didn’t want to…”

“I didn’t say that at all. I would be lucky to still have a friend after this.”

Nagito’s face brightened. “Hey, if he doesn’t accept us, then the bad luck of that would only bring me good luck forever! You could finally be around me without endangering your life! On the other hand…” He frowned and held a hand up to his chin.

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Chiaki said, “I’m sure we’ll be fine… I think.”

Neither of them were fine, from the girl who had been kicked out of her family and the boy who didn’t have a family to begin with. It was all because of one word.

The two fell back into their silence, their unspoken thoughts doing enough talking for them.

*

Hajime inhaled sharply as Nagito and Chiaki walked into the empty classroom with him.

Nagito fidgeted with the straps of his bag. “You said you wanted to talk to us?”

Hajime could only manage a nod. He tried to calm down his racing heart and beat his emotions back down but was failing.

“Why are you nervous?” Chiaki asked, tilting her head. “We’re all best friends, right?”

“Yeah, about that,” Hajime said.

Chiaki and Nagito’s eyes widened for the slightest bit before they returned to their usual expressions.

Hinata took in a deep, shaky breath. “Over the past few days, I’ve felt as if… I don’t, y-you were trying to push me out of the friend group? Like I was being replaced with Ibuki.”

Chiaki and Nagito’s jaws fell open.

“Hajime, that’s not-“ Nagito started.

“No, it’s okay, I’ve accepted it,” Hajime said. He blinked back the tears forming in his eyes. “I-I just wanted to let you know that even if you don’t want me to be your friend anymore, I’ll still be here for you if you need it.” He turned back to walk out of the class with the broken remains of his heart but was stopped.

“Hold it,” Chiaki said, “You think we could ever leave you like that?” Her eyes blazed. “That’s not even your opinion, that’s factually incorrect!”

Nagito reached for Hajime’s wrist. “I agree. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard you say, and, no offense, but you’ve said many stupid things. And done stupid things, now that I think about it, especially that coffee incident last year.”

Hajime winced at the memory of mixing coffee and an energy drink together.

Chiaki’s voice brought him back to reality. “What he’s saying is that we did those stupid things together. If I can remember correctly, it was _my_ coffee and _Nagito’s_ energy drink you took.”

“You fell asleep halfway through the exam anyway,” Nagito muttered.

Hajime could feel himself about to break. “Maybe, but how can I know for sure when you two have been acting so weird lately?”

The other two sent panicky wide eyes to each other before quickly returning to their normal expressions.

“See? Like that,” Hajime said. “You two just looked at each other like you were afraid and then returned to normal. Are you… Are you scared of me?”

Chiaki shuffled her feet. “More like… scared of your reaction to something.”

“What?”

Chiaki met his gaze with eyebrows furrowed and cheeks puffed out. “Listen, just meet us at the theater tomorrow after school. Sit in the front row and stay until the end. You’ll figure it out from there.”

“C-Chiaki,” Nagito mumbled, face utterly horrified.

Chiaki didn’t back down.

Hajime sighed. “Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He walked out of the classroom.

As soon as the door clicked, Nagito collapsed on the floor.

“Nagito!” Chiaki kneeled down next to him. “Are you okay?”

Nagito let out a raspy laugh. “Weren’t we… Weren’t we supposed to do it next week?”

“Yes, but, this is the only way we can get the good ending. We can’t just break off our friendship with him right here and now,” Chiaki said.

“Right, right, that’s supposed to happen tomorrow.”

“Nagito…”

Nagito brushed himself off and stood back up. “Sorry for that interruption, Chiaki. I’ll text Ibuki about the change of plans. You’ll get the flags, right?”

“Yeah.”

Nagito took out his phone and texted Ibuki while Chiaki looked over his shoulder.

After a few seconds, they let out a collective sigh of relief at Ibuki’s answer.

*

Nagito’s legs shook as he crumpled the flag in his hand into a ball. He could feel Chiaki’s gaze on him even in the darkness behind the stage curtains.

“Are you okay?” Chiaki asked. “I can hear you from over here.”

“I’m okay, it’s just…”

“Go on.”

“I’m a boy, same as him. The chance of him breaking off our friendship is higher with me.” He gave her an empty laugh. “I guess you could say I’m just a bit nervous.”

“It’s okay, Nagito,” Ibuki said, fumbling with her microphone. “If he doesn’t accept you, I’ll bite him again!”

“… Again?”

Chiaki broke off his thoughts. “We’re not facing the audience, Nagito. Just pretend he’s not there, and you’ll be fine. We’ll _both_ be fine.”

“We’re all in this together!” Ibuki sang.

Nagito chuckled, his body trembling just a bit less.

*

Hajime pushed open the doors to the theater and thanked whoever was watching over him that the audience was empty. He made his way to the front row and sat down in the middle seat, giving him a clear view of the stage.

He looked around. He contemplated just running out but was trapped in his decision when the lights in the audience dimmed to a pitch black and the curtains drew back, revealing Ibuki standing in front of him. Chiaki and Nagito stood on either side of her with their backs towards him.

Ibuki waved frantically. “Oh hey, Ibuki’s so glad that you actually showed up! We actually have something that we need to talk about. Or maybe you should just listen.”

Music played from the speakers as she sang her next lines.

“We’re all the same, we just want to belong. So let me explain in the form of a song. What you’re ‘bout to find out, got news to share. So sit yourself down, get yourself prepared and...”

Hajime raised an eyebrow. He was already sat down and prepared.

“If this is hard to hear, then you should hit replay-“ Ibuki paused to point at the left wall before gesturing to the two next to her. “‘Cause I can guarantee it’s harder for them to say…”

“Whoever sent you this told me to say hello.” She waved. “Give you a hug and kiss and also wanted you to know-“

Hajime sharply inhaled. This was it. They were breaking off their friendship with him.

“They’re gay!”

Wait, what?

Chiaki and Nagito unfurled rainbow flags behind them and moved to the beat of the music as they sang the backup vocals for the chorus.

 “And today is the day that you’re finding out because they’re happy this way.” Ibuki gave him a wide grin. “Oh, gay! Gay because there’s no reason, love’s always in season… and love is love.” She finished with a gentle smile.

Chiaki and Nagito repeated her last line by themselves.

Ibuki began singing another verse.

Hajime’s thoughts wandered to the events in his dorm room a few weeks ago. They had just… straight up left when he told them his family’s opinion on – his eyes widened. Oh. _Oh no._

“We’re all the same, we just want to belong, so if you are ashamed of them then move along,” Ibuki sang. Her eyes hardened.

Was Hajime ashamed of them? He didn’t even need to think about the answer to that one.

“If you were sent this song by someone you care about, then you should clap along ‘cause it’s their way of coming out! They’re gay!”

Hajime almost rolled his eyes. They couldn’t have just chosen a normal way to come out? One that didn’t involve him almost losing his best friends? Nevertheless, he clapped along.

“They could’ve robbed a bank…” Nagito turned to point finger guns at Chiaki.

“Or stolen a car…” Chiaki smiled and pointed them right back.

Hajime managed to catch a few tears sprouting at both of their eyes before they turned back to the wall.

“But all they’ve done is love who they are,” Ibuki sang, drawing him out of his thoughts again. “And they want you to love them back, how could you be mad at that?”

Who _could_ be mad at that? Hajime clutched his heart and smiled. So they really weren’t lying.

“They’re allowed to be proud so let them sing it aloud: they’re gay!” Ibuki smiled at the next lines of the chorus.

Chiaki and Nagito whirled around to face the audience and waved their flags as they danced along to the music.

“And today is the day that you’re finding out because they’re happy this way.” Ibuki, Chiaki, and Nagito all exchanged jubilant smiles. Hajime had no doubt they truly were happy.

The music started fading out. Ibuki was the only one left singing. “Life is better when you just remember… that love is love.”

Nagito and Chiaki tossed their flags into the air and formed hearts with their hands.

Ibuki pumped a fist in the air. “Woo! That was fun! But seriously though…” She pointed at Nagito and Chiaki. “They’re gay. Like, seriously gay.” She ran out of the theater, hyped up from the concert.

The light from the stage diminished as the light returned to the audience.

Nagito and Chiaki intertwined their fingers before scooting off the stage and walking where Hajime was standing.

Chiaki’s shoulders rose and fell as she tried to calm down her heart. The knuckles on her free hand had turned white. She bit down on her lower lip and fought to keep her face neutral.

Nagito gripped Chiaki’s hand tightly with a pained smile. Had it not been for his raspy breathing, no one could have known how he was feeling.

Hajime stared at them.

The trio stayed in silence before Nagito broke it.

“I’m so sorry, Hajime, you probably don’t want to continue being friends with something as disgusting as me. I completely understand if you never want to see or talk to me ag-“

Hajime raised a finger to Nagito’s lip, shutting him up. He turned to Chiaki first, who squeezed Nagito’s hand.

“Chiaki, you’ve been my best friend since we were, like, six years old. That means we’ve known each other for about a decade now,” Hajime said, voice calmer than he expected it to be. “You’re like the big sister I’ve always wanted.” He smiled. “There’s no way I could just leave you like that. Got it?”

Chiaki let go of Nagito’s hand to cover her mouth. She held a hand to her heart and whispered, “Thank you.”

Hajime turned to Nagito, his smile fading into an exasperated frown. “And Nagito, you’re the younger brother I never wanted but got anyway.”

Nagito smiled, waiting for harsh words.

“But you’re still family, even if I’ve only known you for three years.” Hajime smirked. “You’re dumber than a brick if you really think I could hate you.”

Nagito’s mouth snapped open. He calmed down enough to quip back a “Rude.”

Hajime shook his head. “Seriously? You were actually worried about this?”

“B-But your family-“

“That’s my family. They’re not in control of what I think, and I think I’m gonna be your biggest supporters,” Hajime said, adoration lacing his voice.

The other two faced each other with relieved smiles growing on their faces. Tears pricked their eyes.

Hajime could feel his own tears forming. “Ugh, you’re too cheesy! Just come here, you idiots.” He brought them into a hug.

They accepted the hug gratefully.

Hajime pulled away. “Now, I need all of you to promise me one thing.”

Nagito and Chiaki glanced at each before turning to him.

“You have to promise that I’m the first to hear if you get a boyfriend or girlfriend.”

Chiaki giggled.

“No.” Nagito patted Chiaki’s head. “I’m telling Chiaki first. Ibuki told me that the gays have to stick together.”

Chiaki linked arms with him and stuck her tongue out.

Hajime rolled his eyes but couldn’t hold back the grin forming on his face. “Nerds. Whatever, let’s just go get ice cream or something.”

Nagito’s face paled. “Wait, Hajime, something terrible could happen! The good luck from you accepting us will surely result in years of bad luck.”

“It’s not luck, it’s being a decent person,” Hajime huffed. He gripped both of their hands. “Now come on, I skipped lunch for this.”

Chiaki and Nagito shot wide smiles at each other before following him.

The trio walked out of the theater hand in hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Coming Out song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3ECU6xtp68


End file.
